AGNEEPATH

The Scheme allows patriotic and motivated youth to serve in the Armed Forces for four years. The Union Cabinet on 14 June had approved a recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces. According to the government, the nation stands to immensely benefit from the infusion of highly inspired youth with a deeper understanding of self-discipline, diligence, and focus that would be adequately skilled and will be able to contribute to other sectors. The dividends of short military service to the nation, society, and the youth of the nation are immense.

Agniveers

The youth joined the armed forces under the central government scheme. The soldiers will be given an attractive customized monthly package along with Risk and Hardship allowances as applicable in the three services. On completion of the engagement period of four years, The soldiers will be paid a one-time the Salary package which shall comprise their contribution including accrued interest thereon and matching contribution from the Government equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution including interest as indicated below

The Exit Corpus Fund will be exempt from Income Tax. There shall be no entitlement to gratuity and pensioners benefits. The Soldiers will be provided a non-contributory Life Insurance Cover of Rs 48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the Indian Armed Forces. During this period of service to the nation, the Soldiers will be imparted with various military skills and experience, discipline, physical fitness, leadership qualities, courage, and patriotism. The Scheme explained the Soldiers will be infused into the civil society where they can contribute immensely to the nation-building process. The skills gained by each Soldier will be recognized in a certificate to form part of his unique resume. The Soldiers, on completion of the four-year tenure in the prime of their youth, will be mature and self-disciplined with the realization to become a better version of himself/herself both professionally as also personally. The avenues and opportunities that will open up for their progress in the civil world after the Soldier's tenure would certainly be a big plus for nation-building. The Exit fund of approximately Rs 11.71 lakh would aid the Soldiers to pursue future dreams without the financial pressure, which is normally the case for young people from the financially deprived society. Individuals selected for enrollment in the Armed Forces as regular cadre would be required to serve for a further engagement period of a minimum of 15 years and would be governed by the existing terms and conditions of service of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks in the Indian Army and their equivalent in Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and that of Non-Combatant enrolled in the Indian Air Force, as amended from time-to-time. Terms & Conditions Under this scheme, the Soldiers will be enrolled in the Forces under respective Service Acts for four years. They would form a distinct rank in the Armed Forces, different from any other existing ranks. Upon the completion of four years of service, based on organizational requirements and policies promulgated by the Armed Forces from time to time, the Soldiers will be offered an opportunity to apply for permanent enrollment in the Armed Forces. The applications will be considered in a centralized manner based on objective criteria including performance during their four-year engagement, and up to 25% of each specific batch of the Soldiers will be enrolled in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces. Detailed guidelines will be issued separately. The selection will be the exclusive jurisdiction of the Armed Forces. 46,000 persons will be recruited this year. Enrollment will be undertaken through an online centralized system for all three services with specialized rallies and campus interviews from recognized technical institutes such as Industrial Training Institutes and National Skills Qualifications Framework, among others. Enrollment will be based on an ‘All India All Class’ basis and the eligible age will be in the range from 17.5 to 21 years. The Soldiers will meet the medical eligibility conditions laid down for enrollment in the armed forces as applicable to their respective categories/trades. The educational qualification for the Soldiers will remain in vogue for enrollment in various categories. For example: For entry into General Duty (GD) soldier, the educational qualification is Class 10.